Thrillseakers who leapt from a wave-battered seawall into stormy waters whipped up by ex-hurricane Bertha have come under fire from coastguards.

Images captured over the weekend show young men in wetsuits and flippers jumping into the rough Irish Sea from Aberystwyth’s seafront.

It came as some parts of the coast were battered by winds of up to 50mph, and the “supermoon” caused higher than usual tides.

Surfers jumping into the water off Aberystwyth seafront. Photo: Kia Hansraj

Milford Haven Coastguard Watch Manager Roger Reed, described the men’s actions as “foolhardy”. The criticism comes after longstanding warnings against the craze for tombstoning – jumping from cliffs, seawalls or piers into the sea.

Mr Reed said: “We don’t know the exact time of this activity but the swell looks quite big.

“Unless someone calls an incident like this, we will not be aware of it. Obviously we would warn people of the perils of jumping into the water like this.

“We would never recommend it. As well as the choppy water, the surfers are quite close to the wall and the swell can be quite unpredictable in those areas.